College Writing
Volunteer State Community College
Learning Commons
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College WritingLoading...
This book will explain what your college instructors expect when they give you a writing assignment. It will tell you why you should move beyond the five-paragraph essay you learned to write in high school and start writing essays that are deeper, more analytical, more interesting, and more flexible. Most importantly, it will explain how to do so. The five-paragraph essay
The five-paragraph essay is the model of essay writing that most students were taught in high school or even earlier. It is shaped like an hourglass and moves from general to specific, then back to general again at the end. The first paragraph of a typical five-paragraph essay is called the introduction. It will begin with a general statement and end with a specific thesis statement containing three "points." Each of the three paragraphs in the body will discuss one of those "points." The final paragraph restates the thesis, summarizes the body paragraphs, and ends with a general statement.
Why do high schools teach the five-paragraph essay?
The five-paragraph model is a great tool for learning academic writing and the essay form.
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Writing the Five-paragraph essay is like swimming with floaties.Loading...
Image from flickr.comLoading...
Writing the Five-paragraph essay is like swimming with floaties.Loading...
Image from flickr.comLoading...
It is a simplified version of the academic essay, and it helps students understand how an essay is organized. It is also the model that will be used for most essay exams. If you didn't know the five-paragraph model it would be much more difficult to move beyond it to college-level writing. It is an important foundation for college writers, but it should be thought of as just a foundation.Writing a five-paragraph essay is like swimming with floaties; it’s a tool that helps you learn. That doesn’t mean you should use it forever.
Why is the five-paragraph essay not the best choice for college writing?
In some cases, it may be. For example, if you are given a timed essay exam, the five-paragraph model will work well because it is a quick way to organize and write an essay. For the most part, though, the way college instructors teach is probably different from what you experienced in high school, and so is what they expect from you.
High school courses tend to focus on the facts--the who, what, when and where of the things you're studying. College courses, on the other hand, focus on the how and why. College instructors will still expect you to know the facts, but what they really care about is why you think those facts matter. They will want you to analyze and interpret the facts, connect them with your life, other areas of study, and the world around you. Knowing what college instructors are looking for will help you understand some of the reasons why five-paragraph essays don't work very well for college writing:
• Five-paragraph essays often do a poor job of setting up the context that your reader will need to understand the depth of your collegiate writing. In high school, students learn to start with a general opening and narrow the introduction down to the specific thesis statement. Your college instructors will be looking for a more specific sentence that directly relates to what you will be discussing in the rest of the paper.
In some cases, it may be. For example, if you are given a timed essay exam, the five-paragraph model will work well because it is a quick way to organize and write an essay. For the most part, though, the way college instructors teach is probably different from what you experienced in high school, and so is what they expect from you.
High school courses tend to focus on the facts--the who, what, when and where of the things you're studying. College courses, on the other hand, focus on the how and why. College instructors will still expect you to know the facts, but what they really care about is why you think those facts matter. They will want you to analyze and interpret the facts, connect them with your life, other areas of study, and the world around you. Knowing what college instructors are looking for will help you understand some of the reasons why five-paragraph essays don't work very well for college writing:
• Five-paragraph essays often do a poor job of setting up the context that your reader will need to understand the depth of your collegiate writing. In high school, students learn to start with a general opening and narrow the introduction down to the specific thesis statement. Your college instructors will be looking for a more specific sentence that directly relates to what you will be discussing in the rest of the paper.
If you are accustomed to writing vague opening lines and need them to help you get started, you can go ahead and write them and then delete them before you turn in your final draft. For more information on this topic, see our handout on introductions.
• Five-paragraph essays often lack an argument. College courses focus on analysis and interpretation, rather than memorization, so college instructors expect writers to be able to make an argument about the facts. A really exceptional five-paragraph essay may have an argument, but the typical five-paragraph essay has a three-point thesis that is really a list of "what" components. Remember, college instructors are looking for "why" and "how" components because those lead to an argument about the facts. For more on this subject, see our handout on arguments.
• Five-paragraph essays often lack an argument. College courses focus on analysis and interpretation, rather than memorization, so college instructors expect writers to be able to make an argument about the facts. A really exceptional five-paragraph essay may have an argument, but the typical five-paragraph essay has a three-point thesis that is really a list of "what" components. Remember, college instructors are looking for "why" and "how" components because those lead to an argument about the facts. For more on this subject, see our handout on arguments.
"How" and "why" components lead to an argument about the facts.
Image by amyallworth from pixabay.com
• Five-paragraph essays often lack flow. Five-paragraph essays tend to feel choppy to the reader because they treat each paragraph as a separate entity, rather than making connections between paragraphs to build one strong argument. Again, this type of flow is horizontal and surfacelevel. College instructors are looking for a vertical argument that flows smoothly into the depths of the argument and connects throughout.
College courses focus on the "how" and "why" of things, not the facts.
• Five-paragraph essays are often repetitive. The five-paragraph model has a lot of repetition built into it, which is a great way to learn form and organization, but repetition isn't the best way to build an argument. College writing should be vertical, not horizontal, with each point moving a little deeper into the argument, instead of just repeating what has already been said. Also, repetition is not very fun to read!
• Five-paragraph essays often have weak conclusions that summarize what’s already been said and lack interest. A college audience doesn't need the repetition that is built-in to a five-paragraph essay. Even in the conclusion, college readers will be looking for more than just a summary, which does nothing to engage readers and make them feel reading the essay was time well spent.
• Most importantly, in a five-paragraph essay, form controls content, and it should be the other way around. In high school, students fit their ideas into a cookbook formula for writing. The collegiate essay allows flexibility for the depth and complexity of the content you will be expected to discuss in your writing.
• Most importantly, in a five-paragraph essay, form controls content, and it should be the other way around. In high school, students fit their ideas into a cookbook formula for writing. The collegiate essay allows flexibility for the depth and complexity of the content you will be expected to discuss in your writing.
● Weak context
● No argument
● No flow
● Repetitive
● Weak conclusions
● Form controls content
● No argument
● No flow
● Repetitive
● Weak conclusions
● Form controls content
Pitfalls
Moving Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay
Let's look at an example based on our handout on thesis statements.
Suppose you're taking a literature class and the professor gives you the following writing assignment on the literature of Edgar Allen Poe:
Discuss one of the themes in "The Mask of the Red Death."
Holly is preparing to write her first college literature paper. She decides to write a five-paragraph essay, just like she learned in high school. She begins by thinking, “What are three points I can talk about to discuss this story?” She does a little brainstorming, and she says, “In class we discussed color, setting, and structure, so I will do my paper about that." So, she writes her introduction:
Suppose you're taking a literature class and the professor gives you the following writing assignment on the literature of Edgar Allen Poe:
Discuss one of the themes in "The Mask of the Red Death."
Holly is preparing to write her first college literature paper. She decides to write a five-paragraph essay, just like she learned in high school. She begins by thinking, “What are three points I can talk about to discuss this story?” She does a little brainstorming, and she says, “In class we discussed color, setting, and structure, so I will do my paper about that." So, she writes her introduction:
Everyone expects to die one day, yet humans spend an incredible amount of time and money on avoiding death. Edgar Allen Poe's short Story, "The Mask of the Red Death" is about a group of